For whatever reason, a neighbor who lived two houses away, 56-year-old Charles Collins Cutler, came out of his home with a shotgun and shot Wrigley from 40 feet away:
"My dog was playing with my friend's dog," Stacey Ernat said. "They're both young puppies and they were just tumbling around in the snow… and the guy who was two houses up came out his back door and shot my chocolate lab. I ran up there and I found her under a boat trailer that was lifted off the ground. She was curled up in a ball...really scared and confused why she was hurt so bad… so I picked her up and I held her an I told her it was gonna be OK."Ernat rushed Wrigley to a veterinarian in nearby Atlantic, IA, but the dog did not survive his gunshot injuries.
Cutler did not shoot the other dog. I have looked around, but I cannot find any evidence that he ever attempted to tell anyone to keep the dogs off of his yard or that he gave any warning. It could have happened, but I haven't seen it.
According to sources, Cutler reportedly told a Cass County Sheriff's Deputy that he believed it was in his rights to shoot Wrigley since he was on his property:
The Des Moines Register quoted Cass County Sheriff Darby McLaren as stating, “We’re not happy about this and were going to do everything we can to see justice is served and to dissuade people from doing this in the future... Occasionally someone in Cass County will shoot a vicious dog that appears threatening to people or animals, but the Labrador puppy reportedly posed no threats," said McLaren.Culter was initially charged with reckless use of a firearm. He was subsequently charged with animal abuse. The first charge is a simple misdemeanor and the second charge is an aggravated misdemeanor.
Cutler has not issued any public statements, but reportedly forwarded an apology to Ernat via the police. If only he had considered her feelings before shooting at the non-vicious Lab.